Nagarjuna says he's 'very proud of how calm Naga Chaitanya remained' during separation from Samantha

I have known Nagarjuna from the time he did Shiva in 1990. Success or failure has not changed this affable superstar. He remains as polite and considerate now as he was 20 years ago. “Do you mind I have my breakfast while talking to you?” he asks as we connect for a telephonic interview. Nag speaks of why his film Bangarraju with his son Naga Chaitanya is going ahead with its release on 14 January in spite of the Covid resurgence. Also for the first time, Nag opens up on his son’s dignified silence last year as Chaitanya went through a separation from his wife Samantha. Nag, while Rajamouli has postponed the release of his film RRR, you have decided to ahead with Bangarraju? Yes, we are releasing as per schedule on 14 January. The third wave is not that strong in Hyderabad and Andhra. Yesterday there were huge traffic jams in Hyderabad as people made their way back to their villages. We are confident that people would want to see our film. Because of their love for your family? Partly that. But more importantly, it is the kind of an escapist no-brainer that people need right now. We have no intellectual pretensions in Bangarraju. It is a straightforward escapist entertainer meant to make people forget their worries for two hours. You asked me about Rajamouli’s film. But postponing that film is not the same thing as postponing our film. We are targeting our film at predominantly an Andhra-Telangana audience whereas RRR is meant for a pan-India audience. In fact why just India? RRR is aimed at a global audience. There is no comparison between the expected reach of their film and ours.

Why are you so confident that audiences will turn up in movie theatres for Bangarraju? There is a tradition of watching movies in Andhra and Telangana for Makkar Sankranti. They do their pujas and then they dress up in new clothes and go see a movie. Every year as many as 4-5 big films are released on Makkar Sankranti. This time, the situation being what it is, it’s just Bangarraju. I am not saying to take risks to see it. But mask up, take all precautions and you are promised a super time. It is actually a superhero film. Like a Malayalam superhero film _Minnal Murali_ which is a big hit? Yes, can you imagine, an Indian superhero film being so much liked! Bangarrraju is not a superhero film in that sense. Neither Chaitanya nor I get into superhero suits. But it is about powers that guide us through life. In Indian culture, we believe that our ancestors look over us. Bangarraju is about that. It also has a wise thoughtful snake. It’s a crazy crazy film, as mad as Manmohan Desai’s cinema. Audiences should leave their brains behind and come for it. Your son Naga Chaitanya shares screen space with you in Bangarraju for the second time? Was he nervous to be in front of the camera with you? If he was, I didn’t see any nervousness. I saw a remarkable change in Chaitanya during Bangarraju. When we did Manam together he was new and raw. Now after Love Story last year, I see a very confident co-actor in Bangarraju. Initially, Chaitanya was nervous about doing something so over-the-top. But he gradually got a hang of it. By the time we completed the film he was as confident as me. Chaitanya conducted himself with dignity during the family crisis last year? I am very proud of how calm he remained through it all. He was not provoked into uttering a single word. Like any father, I was very worried about him. But he was more worried about me than I was about him. He would ask me, ‘You okay, Dad?’ and I’d be like, errr, ‘Isn’t that what I should be asking you?’ How do you look back on the challenges that last year threw on you? I would rather focus on the good than the bad. Both my sons broke through the so-called jinx to deliver mature performances in hit films. I am proud of both Chaitanya and Akhil for what they achieved in Love Story and Most Eligible Bachelor. Subhash K Jha is a Patna-based journalist. He has been writing about Bollywood for long enough to know the industry inside out.